Angry religious zealots are not just nutty and narrow-minded. They’re dangerously deluded. That’s the lesson of Christiane Amanpour’s excellent three-part takedown of the trio of radical fringes – Jewish, Muslim and Christian.

She’s more respectful than that, of course. But viewers may conclude that fundamentalist extremists are a scary lot and not a little crazy.

The point is, once you decide you are God’s warrior, bound to impose your particular religious law on the political and legal realms for everyone else, you’ve abandoned reason.

Jerry Falwell, Yehuda Etzion and Mohamed Madi Akef are all part of this six-hour survey of the most radical of true believers. This is agitating television, a deep, far-flung font of information condensed and framed by cinematic shots of the Holy Land, Americans raising money for West Bank settlements, a Christian rock concert and a chat with a reformed Islamic jihadist. The religious have in common their claim to know the one true way to transcendent enlightenment.

Whether they’re fighting over the Dome of the Rock or legislation regarding school prayer, they also share the notion that modern life has gotten off track. American popular culture, of course, is the biggest demon. But whether it’s Britney Spears music videos or Harry Potter magic poisoning the minds of our young, the extreme believers want secular society unplugged and their idea of a perfect religion-based life restored in its place.

Amanpour, CNN’s chief international correspondent, knows she won’t win friends with this documentary. She’s not worried that the broadcast may make her a target of ill-will.

“I’m already a target,” she said, shrugging off the potential danger. It comes with the journalistic territory.

The result of eight months of reporting, “God’s Warriors” subject is the not-for-cocktail-party intersection of politics and religion.

“Whether it’s Islam, Judaism, or Christianity,” she said, what marks the truest believers is “not just the disappointment with the secular world but also a deep belief that they have a transcendent and unique line to God, and they have the only way, and the only real way of interpreting the truth, and they want that to become our culture and our politics.”

She counts the “clash of civilizations” as the key issue of our age, along with the environment. And she leads the discussion with a disarming first-person narration. “I traveled to Jerusalem to meet …”

Only a small minority of the fundamentalist faithful believe violence is the correct path, the documentary is careful to note. Most preach nonviolence. That will be a sticking point for observers who will note the bombings, assassinations and attempts at martyrdom of radical Islamists are unlike the other religious beliefs. There are extremists and then there are extremists.

The documentary is careful not to equate the three movements examined separately in three films, two hours on each consecutive night this week.

In addition to numerous radicalized members of each faith, Amanpour interviews former President Jimmy Carter; the Rev. Jerry Falwell (his last); Noa Rothman, granddaughter of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin; and Kamal el-Said Habib, a reformed Islamic jihadist who was part of the violent militant group that assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

In the end, Amanpour isn’t as frightened as some members of her audience may be after sitting through the series. She told critics she takes heart in knowing that some sort of democracy increasingly is taking root around the world: “The numbers of people who reject extremism, who reject al Qaedaism, who reject violence, is, in my view, heartening.”

These extremists and head cases should not be ignored, she concludes on-camera; they should be explained. She’s at least started the job.

Meow Wolf, the for-profit artist collective in Santa Fe, is planning a complex just west of downtown Denver. As that project shapes up, Meow Wolf officials are establishing a presence in the city by giving financial support to local arts organizations.